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Ayatollah Khamenei accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza

A man waves a picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei above Israeli flags before setting the flags on fire during a demonstration in Tehran

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and called on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians fighting "the Zionist regime".

In a speech marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, Mr Khamenei said Israel was acting like a "rabid dog" and "a wild wolf".

He accused it of acts that are causing a human catastrophe and which must be resisted.

"A people surrounded in a small place with closed borders, unsure of having water and electricity, this population faces an armed enemy," he said of three weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians and 53 Israelis.

"The people resist unabated. This is a lesson for all."

Mr Khamenei dismissed talk of a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it was a ploy by the United States and European states to save Israel.

He said Hamas should be re-armed, rather than disarmed as otherwise they will be "unable to defend themselves".

"The US president issued a fatwa that the resistance is disarmed so that they cannot respond to all those crimes [committed by Israel]," the supreme leader said, referring to a call by Barack Obama for the "disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarisation of Gaza".

"We say the opposite. The world and especially the Islamic world should arm ... the Palestinian people," Mr Khamenei said.

His comments follow rallies held across Iran on Friday in a show of support for Palestinians and to protest against Israeli military action in Gaza.